There are perhaps few characters in history about whom opinion has been more divided than the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, and his wife the Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna. While some have venerated them as innocent victims of Bolshevik assassins, they have also been portrayed as the catalysts of the revolution, and blamed for all the ills that befell the Russian people in the 20th century. As this dual biography by the author of Grandes Horizontales and Catherine the Great shows, theirs was also a tragic love story, as there can be no doubt that Alix and Nicky adored one another. Through letters and diaries written by the couple and by those around them, Virginia Rounding presents an intimate portrayal of these two complex figures.